The Warrnambool couple will celebrate their 65^th wedding anniversary on Saturday, marking many happy years spent in each other’s company.

Originally from the Hamilton district, the pair first met on a bus trip from their hometown to Warrnambool for a Lutheran youth event.

“I looked at her all the way down and sat with her all the way back,” Mr Rentsch said with a laugh.

“It was a great day of our lives and the start of a wonderful romance and a wonderful life together.”

After their first meeting they ran into each other again on the street in Hamilton and soon started “going together”. 

“We weren’t allowed to get married until she was 21 and she was only about 18 when I met her, but we were engaged for two and a half years,” Mr Rentsch recalls.

The couple wed in Hamilton Lutheran Church on February 6, 1951. The bride looked stunning in a sweeping gown she made herself, spending countless hours hand-stitching pearls in place.

After the big day, the Rentschs began farming at Strathkeller, east of Hamilton. They have two children together, Peter and Dianne, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Now in their late 80s, the couple moved into Warrnambool nine years ago but still farm 140 acres at Byaduk.

“We work together… I go up to the farm and she comes too, she helps draft cattle,” Mr Rentsch said.

“I help the best I can,” Mrs Rentsch chipped in.

“It’s an interest. I think Ernie would go silly if he was here (in Warrnambool) all the time.”

The couple also enjoys gardening and travelling together.

They said encouragement, support and patience was key to their long and happy marriage.

“Supporting each other and blessings from God, he’s blessed us all our life I reckon and led us in whatever we do,” Mr Rentsch said.

“Never condemn what the other one does, always encourage each other.

“I think that patience has a lot to do with it too,” Mrs Rentsch said.